


No Rest for the Wiccan

by TheLilyMaiden



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Body Image, Demonic Possession, Eating Disorders, F/F, F/M, M/M, Triggers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-06 11:59:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3133682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLilyMaiden/pseuds/TheLilyMaiden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an unpleasant encounter with a vatala clan, Sam and Dean find themselves rescued by Tatiana (Ana), a Wiccan who is very famous in the hunter community for healing, tracking, and the occasional fight (and also happens to be young and quite beautiful).  Once Sam and Dean have healed, Ana tells them that she is in desperate need of help with a case of her own.  </p><p>Shortly thereafter, Sam, Dean, and Ana visit Tulsa, OK, where multiple people have been admitted to the hospital for malnutrition and dehydration.  Ana explains to them that they're dealing with a rather unique demon-- one that, when possesses people, takes up residence in the backs of their minds and fosters pre-existing thoughts about feeling fat or hating their bodies.  Worse, those thoughts and feelings remain forever, even when the demon leaves its victims.  </p><p>Ana confesses that she had a long and unpleasant encounter with the demon in her past, resulting in an eating disorder which she must internally fight every day.  With Ana's personal experience and knowledge, they manage to hunt it down-- the last problem being however that in order to kill the demon they must also kill its host...and the demon is possessing multiple people at once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "We're in Tatiana Astashi's apartment!"

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, because I'm vain as fuck, I wrote myself into this story.  
> I'm saying RIGHT NOW before you read any further that this will be very triggering if you have struggled with an eating disorder.  
> I'm really excited about it though and will keep adding to it every week. We'll see how it turns out!  
> Please leave comments, critique, and feedback below!

Dean propped himself on his elbows, squinting against the aching pressure behind his eyelids. His hands fisted around the fuzzy purple blanket draped over him as he viewed the small apartment from his position on the sofa. The doors to the few rooms had been replaced by shiny, hanging beads, and the table through the doorway to his right was at floor level, Japanese style, with beanbag chairs seated around it. On the walls hung paintings of various godforms and deities of different mythologies from all over the world--he recognized Thor, Aphrodite, Bastet, Lakshmi, Odin, Adonis, and even Baba Yaga. Before Dean could take further assessment of his surroundings however, a black cat leapt upon his chest and began to knead at the blanket. Hesitantly, Dean reached down to scratch under her chin as she began to curl up in a tight ball of vibrating fur.

The beads in the doorway to what must have been one of the bedrooms tinkled softly as a girl rushed towards him. Although she couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, the dark circles under her eyes, her frown, and the set of her jaw clearly announced that she was far from childhood. A bun held her long, curly dark red hair out of her face, which sported streaks of dirt and dried blood. “Oh thank the goddess, you’re awake.”

Dean cleared his throat and coughed. “Where’s my brother?”

Her expression showed no sign of change. “He’s in the bedroom. He’ll be fine, he just got knocked out pretty bad.”

“I need to see him.”

“I’d say go for it, but you lost a hellavua lot of blood, and Venus gets pretty pissed if her bed moves.”

Dean’s head fell backwards while his hand continued to pet the cat--Venus, apparently. “Who are you?”

“Tatiana Astashi. Ana. I assume you know--”

“Wait.” Dean sat straight up again, causing Venus to shift and meow agitatedly. “The Wiccan Tatiana?”

The girl knelt down and gestured to Dean’s face, silently asking if she could examine for cuts and bruises. “The one and only. Well, lots of people are named Tatiana, but I just happen to be sort of famous to you hunters, I guess. Always healing your stupid asses and whatnot.”

“Dude,” Dean exclaimed, suddenly grinning so hard he felt his broken lip burst open again, “you’re like a legend.”

Ana smirked as she began to dab antibiotics across Dean’s forehead and cheeks. “I’m a legend? Y’all are the ones who stopped the fucking apocalypse and ended the whole leviathan thing. Yes Dean,” she added before he could reopen his mouth, “I know who you are. I’m not retarded.”

“I’m guessing then that you didn’t let those vatala clan get away then?”

“‘Course not. Spell of energy ropes to hold ‘em down and shut ‘em up, then twist of a knife to the heart. No biggie. How’d y’all wind up nearly drained dry and sprawled on the floor?”

Dean winced as some of the antibiotics touched his bruised lip. “Well, we were expecting two and there happened to be six.”

“Fucking monsters, man.” Ana sighed overdramatically as she pulled a crystal wand from her medicine bag. “You mind?”

“Healing spell?”

“Yep. Is that okay?”

“Go for it, Glenda.”

Ana rolled her eyes as she began to run the tip of the wand across each of Dean’s scars in turn, breath steadying and expression turning serene. Dean felt a slight stinging tug as, miraculously, his skin began to delicately knit itself back together. When Ana deemed his face acceptably presentable, she moved down to his leg, pulling the blanket up gingerly.

“Alright, so we have two options here. You let me take off your pants and expose your lower regions to the universe, or I cut them open and you ruin a perfectly good pair of jeans. Your pick.”

“Hey, I never say no to anyone who asks me to take off my pants.” Dean wiggled his eyebrows.

Ana scoffed out a laugh. “Anyone ever tell you you’re kind of a man-whore?”

“Frequently.”

“Well Casanova, just so you know, this might hurt a bit. Bones snapping back together and whatnot.” Ana didn’t give Dean much time to reply; just deftly undid his zipper and slid the jeans up and over, moving particularly gently over the leg area. Venus meowed angrily and hopped onto the floor, trotting away, tail held primly in the air. Dean casually folded his hands across his lap and stared intently at one of the paintings on the wall.

Instead of using the wand this time, Ana reached into her duffle bag and pulled out a thick ball of red yarn, scissors, white quartz, rose quartz, and a squishy pink stress-ball which she place firmly into Dean’s palm. “You’re gonna want to squeeze this thing and think of puppies,” Ana instructed as she began to wrap the bottom length of Dean’s leg in yarn, creating a complex crisscross formation and drawing tiny pentacles with her finger where the string crossed over the same spot five times. 

Once the binding was complete, she reached for the white quartz and pressed it down, hard, onto the first little cross. Dean’s vision turned white as he felt part of his bone move. She repeated the procedure down his leg, and Dean indeed had to visualize some serious puppies. Throwing the white quartz aside, Ana then re-did the process with the rose quartz, and this time, Dean felt a soft heat slowly surging through his leg. Next thing he knew, the yarn was in a pile on the floor.

Ana sat back on her thighs and cracked her knuckles. “Wanna try walking?”

“Already? You’re not gonna tell me to sit still and save my strength?”

“Nah, that’s bullshit. I hate when people tell me that. Go see Sam, he should be awake now.”

Dean hastily tugged his pants back on and strode through the clinking beads to find Sam just starting to sit up and rub his eyes. “Dean?”

“Dude. You’re not going to believe this.”

“Um, where are we? Why do I hurt all over?”

“We’re in Tatiana Astashi’s apartment!”

“Wait. What?” Sam immediately shot straight up, eyes the size of saucers. “The Tatiana who’s heal people in minutes and takes down monsters with a few flicks of her wrist? That Tatiana?”

“Yes, that Tatiana! What other Tatianas do we know of?”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

The beads jingled again as Ana entered the room. “Fawning over my fame?”

Sam’s mouth hung agape slightly and he ran a hand down his face to hide the growing blush.

“You feeling any better Sam?”

“Well, everything hurts, but--”

“That’s normal. You should be fine in a few hours. I took care of the concussion, but the spell to replenish blood loss will take a little longer.”

“So um...how did you save us?”

Dean spoke before Ana could even open her mouth. “Energy binding spell and knife to the heart, right?”

“Yes Dean, very good. You’re memory is impeccable.” Ana smirked coyly as she moved next to Sam, checking his pulse at both his neck and wrist. Deeming him acceptably healthy, Ana coughed and looked down at her feet. “So guys, since you’re here, I kind of have a favor to ask, if that’s okay.”

“Sure Ana, anything you need.”

“Yeah, you really saved our asses back there. We own you.”

“Aww y’all are too sweet. So like…any other time I would have taken care of a case like this myself, but for this...I really, really need backup, and you two are basically the best hunters in the country.”

Dean shifted his feet, shaking his head and smiling shyly. “Oh I wouldn’t know about that--”

Ana ignored him. “There’s a demon where I used to live, in Tulsa. But well, it’s not really like most demons. It’s kind of a lot more of a douchebag.”

Sam laughed outright. “More of a douchebag than most demons? Great, sounds peachy.”

“You have no idea. I faced it once before, and um...I didn’t exactly come out unscathed.” Ana’s voice lowered as she bit her lip. “I have no desire what-so-ever to go in alone this time.”

It was Dean’s turn to laugh. “The almighty Tatiana lost a fight?”

“Hey! You know how everyone gets into hunting some way or another? I didn’t just roll out of bed one day and go, ‘Ya know, I think I’ll be a Wiccan.’”

Sam sat upright fully and gave Ana a full dose of the puppy-dog face. “This thing hurt you really bad, huh?”

“Yeah.” Ana cleared her throat and moved her gaze away from the floor. “But Wicca is the most healing practice I know. And every once in a while, you get to use Magick save some dorks and smite an evil douchebag.”

Dean nodded solemnly and reached in for a fist-bump. “Preach it sister.” He looked between his brother and the most powerful Wiccan he’d ever heard of before cracking his knuckles and saying, “Alright Glenda, fill us in.”


	2. An Evil Douchebag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana tells her story, and everyone starts preparing to take-up the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more, please leave feedback and constructive criticism in the comments!

Sam frowned over his tea, body squashed uncomfortably into one of the beanbags seated around the Japanese table. Dean sprawled across from him, seemingly unfazed by the setup, if not smugly content about it. The ‘Good Earth’ was a bit sweet for Sam’s liking, but Ana insisted that it’d help heal sore muscles and speed-up the blood restoration process. The Wiccan sat to his right, biting her lip as she stirred a Splenda packet into her mug.

“Okay, so story time,” she announced, chewing the inside of her cheek. She sipped her tea hesitantly before setting it firmly on the table and folding her hands in her lap. “I was eleven when I first met this dick-wad. In fact, it’d probably shown up when I was even younger, but you don’t give things too much thought when you’re little.”

Dean spluttered over his mug. “You were possessed when you were eleven?”

"Not quite. It circled me for a few months, whispering to me… like it was trying to worm its way in gradually. It didn’t actually get inside me until I was about twelve.”

Dean snorted. “Yeah, twelve is so much better than eleven.”

“Dean,” Sam reprimanded. “Demons possess children all the time. We just don’t hear about it as much. Except for, you know, Lilith.”

Ana laughed humorously. “Yeah, trust me; no one takes a kid seriously for acting weird. But anyway, it was inside me for a good ten months or so. And then again when I was fifteen. And when I was nineteen. Because it’s a sentimental little shit. It’s just it wasn’t until I’d been practicing the Craft for a few years that I realized it wasn’t exactly a normal possession.”

Sam leaned forward, hands on his knees. “How so?”

“Well, first of all, I was conscious the whole time. And often—definitely not all the time, but often--it let me walk around and do my own thing, but I’d always know it was there. It’d talk to me, and tell me to do really, really bad things. Things that maybe I'd thought of, but would ever have actually done otherwise. And if I wouldn’t do them, it’d do them for me.”

“Like hurt people?” Dean asked.

“No,” Ana muttered, “like hurt myself.”

Silence momentarily enveloped them. “Ana,” Sam finally said, gently but firmly, “what’d it make you do to yourself?”

“Mainly? Starvation. All kinds of starvation techniques. Not eating of course, but also obsessing over burning calories in any and every way possible. I'd always been self-conscious about my body as a kid but that...I'd never, ever thought it'd lead to that.”

Dean frowned. “That sounds like, well, anorexia. Not necessarily the work of a demon.”

“So all my therapists told me.” Ana rolled her eyes. “But it was more than that. Anorexia doesn’t talk to you. It doesn’t take control of your body so you lie to everyone you love about what you did and didn’t eat and force you to run or throw down a fork when it’s the last thing you want to do. And it definitely doesn’t ooze black smoke from your skin and eyes.”

Dean sat back slightly. “Oh.”

“And that barely scratches the surface,” Ana elaborated. “When it did take control of my body, it’d beat me. Like, with various blunt objects. Even a hairbrush at one point. Oh, and it wouldn’t let me have any friends. Always made me say I was busy. It wanted me all to itself.”

Dean scrubbed a hand over his hair. “Damn, it really does sound like a huge douchebag.”

Sam leaned forward. “It’s not…with you now, is it?”

Ana smiled tentatively. “No, not now. It left permanent residue in my mind that no matter of spells or meditation can ever seem to get rid of though, which is why I need your guys’ help hunting it. I’m really, really not in the mood to deal with this fucker by myself. But it’s hurting people. A lot of people. And no one deserves that kind of torture. No one.”

Dean swallowed hard. “You mean…you still feel like you…need to…do those things? Even though it’s gone?”

Ana took another long sip of tea. “Kind of. I’ve learned to resist though, mostly.”

Sam rubbed his chin thoughtfully, turning to Dean. “Doesn’t this sound like that demon that turned that one guy into a serial killer?”

Dean shuddered. “Similar end-game maybe?”

“Seems like it.”

Venus chose that moment to unexpectedly jump onto the table, causing the cups to shake and threaten to spill over. Ana scooped her up and set her absently on Sam’s lap, where she stretched out and rolled over. “Venus doesn’t like tension,” Ana said. “She always senses when the mood’s gotten depressing.”

Dean snorted. “Damn right it has. Ana, I’m so sorry—”

“Hey, don’t,” Ana insisted, not unkindly. “It taught me a lot of strength.”

Puppy-dog face firmly intact, Sam clasped Ana’s shoulder. “It’s okay. We’re gonna find a way to kill it. Promise.”  
Ana grinned. “Well then, I guess we’re going road-tripping.”

***

Donna sat at Jody’s kitchen table, examining a few news articles. “Jody-o, is nine an um, normal amount of people die of malnutrition in a week?”

Jody slammed a cabinet door shut. “Not unless it’s in Africa. And I’m guessing it’s not?”

“It says here that it’s happening in Tulsa.”

“Dammit. I’ll call them.”

Donna fiddled with the edges of the paper. “Or…you know, we could go check it out ourselves?”

Jody crossed her arms over her chest. “Absolutely not. You’re just starting this whole hunting thing. We should start small. From the sound of it, this isn’t small.”

Alex chose that moment to enter the kitchen, long hair damp from a recent shower. “Aw just go! This one sounds interesting.”

“Now honey I know you’re just saying that so you and Jake can have the house to yourselves. Don’t bullshit me.”

“Hey! Don’t make this about me! You guys should get out and do something.”

“Fine. I’m calling them anyway though,” Jody announced, stomping towards the phone. “If we’re gonna do this, we should probably tag-team it.”

***

Sam tossed the phone onto the bed of Ana’s guest room just as Dean entered, draped in a towel from the waist down. “That was Jody. Apparently she and Donna got wind of the case too.”

Dean’s face turned white. “You told them not to come, right?”

Sam eyed Dean, confused. “I actually told them to check it out with us. It’ll be good training, and they couldn’t be safer with Tatiana there.”

“Yes, they could!” Dean snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, Donna totally fits the profile of who this demon’s targeting. Doesn’t like her body, diets a lot already?”

Sam plopped down on the bed and pressed his face into his hands. “Shit.”

“Call ‘em back and tell them not to come.”

“They’re kind of already on their way.”

Ana knocked on the door. “You guys decent?”

“No,” Sam said, at the same time Dean tightened the towel around his waist and smirked, “Of course.”

“Dean’s half-nude isn’t he.”

“Dammit stop using your psychic mojo on me!”

“Oh sweetie that’s not mojo, that’s me knowing exactly how guys sound like when they have a secret wish. Anyway, hurry up, we should head out soon.”

Sam gave Dean his classic bitch-face before pocketing the phone and heading towards the door. “Dude. We’re working. Stop trying to get laid.”

Dean practically whimpered. “But it’s Tatiana Astashi!”

Sam rolled his eyes dramatically as he left the room.


End file.
